Fair and Balanced (and Phony) Science

Evading the challenges of climate changeand the human responsibility to save the planetis simple enough even for the laziest citizen. Pay attention only to the hypotheses that support the comforting skepticism of the oil industry. Focus on a set of purloined e-mails that prove nothing except that scientists can be as unpleasant to each other as any other group of people. Get the "facts" from FOX News Channel, TheWall Street Journal editorial page, the Moonie-controlled Washington Timesand all the other conservative outlets that are as fair and balanced as an Exxon press release.

And be sure to ignore the mounting evidence, most notably the actual temperature studies released by the United Nations this week, that proves beyond a doubt that the Earth is warming as carbon-based industrialization spreads across developing nations.

It is hardly surprising that FOX News would emphasize the use of terms like "trick" in a stolen message from the University of East Anglia without mentioning that the word had an innocent meaning when used by the senders. It is even less surprising that in their zeal to exploit those e-mails and influence public opinion, the FOX News crew would concoct their own stupid deception.

As the e-mail controversy unfolded, pollsters at Rasmussen Reports asked respondents the following question: "In order to support their own theories and beliefs about global warming, how likely is it that some scientists have falsified research data?" According to their survey, 35% believed that it was "very likely," 24% thought it was "somewhat likely," 21% thought it was "not very likely," 5% thought it was "not likely at all" and 15% were unsure.

But those results weren't damning enough for FOX, which displayed a full-screen graphic on the poll claiming that 59% considered scientific deception to be "somewhat likely" and 35% considered it to be "very likely," with only 26% feeling it was not very likely. Add up those numbers, and the total comes to 120% (with the uncertain 15% discarded).

Should we trust the science reporting of a network so challenged by basic arithmetic? Perhaps that question is unfairor it would be if FOX and the propagandists of climate skepticism had not indulged in so many earlier episodes of fakery.

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Consider the career of Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the leading skeptic and former chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, who has vowed to travel to the Copenhagen Climate Conference as a one-man "truth squad." Back when he still chaired that Senate panel, Inhofe sent out a press release with the following bold headline in huge typeface: "Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007." Described as a U.S. Senate report, this release claimed to debunk the scientific consensus on climate change

When examined more closely, however, the Inhofe report was an amateurish fraud. Those 400 prominent scientists included more than 80 who had received funding either directly or indirectly from the oil and coal industries and more than 90 who had no scientific expertise in climate science, along with 49 retired scientists and 44 television weathermen.

The Oklahoma senator's attempt to obscure the verdict of actual scientists reflected the advice of Frank Luntz, the GOP public-relations adviser and pollster who authored a notorious 2002 memo telling Republicans that they could only "win" the global warming debate by doing exactly that. Over the past several years, Republican allies in the fossil fuel business have funneled millions of dollars into that effort, while often concealing the true sources of funding behind the studies that question warming and its causes.

Meanwhile, the scientific consensus remains unshaken and profound. From the thousands of scientists who participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to the National Academy of Scientists, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Royal Society and the hundreds of peer-reviewed studies published over the past 15 years, the findings are plain enough. Global warming is real, with serious consequences for humanity. Hiding from the truth won't change it.

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Comments (4)

Global warming is a global scam!...

Global warming is a global scam!

Kurt more than 10 years ago

GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX! Perhaps no other issue ...

GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX! Perhaps no other issue in comtemporary political discussion is more of a slam dunk for common sense conservatives like myself. Is the climate changing? Of course! Anybody should know the global climate is in a constant state of change. But the real question is.....are mans' activities causing permanent change to the global climate? Absolutely not. The global warming and climate change movement consists of nothing more than leftists/socialists trying to force their template on how people live. For decades we have heard about how global warming was goint to cause us to burn up but, lo and behold, these so-called "scientists" actually admit we are now in a cooling period. That should be enough to any common-sensical person to realize this is a theory that is far from proven. But no. The leftists claim it is now cooling BECAUSE its warming.......tallk about changing the rule as we go. Secondly, emails PROVING that clmate data has been manipulated to present a faulty theory is discovered. But lo and behold, the leftists claim the emails prove nothing and I have read some leftists blogs painting the hero who took the emails as the biggest villain in the scandal. Pure insanity.

corrina252more than 10 years ago

It should also be noted that when Mt. St. Helens e...

It should also be noted that when Mt. St. Helens erupted it was widely reported that when the volcanoe erupted it spewed more greenhouse gas than man has since the industrial revolution. These geological events are way more significant than man. Also 98% of greenhouse gas is water vapor. CO2 is a small percentage of the remaining 2%

Andremore than 10 years ago

I would like to see to tou dispute these 100 reaso...

I would like to see to tou dispute these 100 reason that Global Warming as a man made issue is ridiculous.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/146138

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